Friday, August 31, 2012

this week was full of organizing at work, much needed pedicures & dinner with a sweet lady, ﻿appreciating sore legs and recipe hunting. that last one seems random, i know, but don't you ever get in a food slump? the husband & i try to eat pretty healthy for the most part, and truthfully, sometimes that can get pretty boring. so we've been incorporating new meals into our weekly repertoire, and i'm lovin' it. (earlier this week, i was that embarassing, cheap person at barnes & noble that was taking pictures of recipes in magazines on my iphone so i didn't have to buy the whole magazine. yeah, that's right. i can hear you judging me from all the way over here.)

these are my written thoughts that accompanied all the un-written thoughts this week:

saturday, august 25, 2012what would you like to tell your father?
oof. so many things. we've had a very strange relationship my whole life, but it's been getting better & better these past few years. so right now, i'd like to tell him that i'm so, so glad we have what i would finally call a "good relationship".

sunday, august 26, 2012what's the best part about your life right now?
my family. that includes the obvious members, like my parents and siblings, but also my husband & his family.
there's nothing quite like family to help you become a better person. without meaning to, they kind of force you to take a step back and look at yourself and the way you live life and handle relationships.

monday, august 27, 2012when was the last time you worked out?
this morning. i went for a great, sweaty run. (yum!)

tuesday, august 28, 2012how would you describe your victory dance?
i'd need to come up with one first. i usually just high five myself.

wednesday, august 29, 2012what did you have for dinner?
sushi + flatbread. mmm - i know, random combination. but i went on a happy-hour-girl-date and they had this perfect combo awaiting us.

thursday, august 30, 2012what's your simplest pleasure?
music.
i get really attached to music - to bands, to songs, to albums.
for me, music can really shape an entire day. just yesterday morning, i was listening to my favorite radiohead album (in rainbows) on my drive to work, and knew it would be a great day. my favorite song on the album (nude) came on, and it was so beautiful and put a huge smile on my face.

friday, august 31, 2012what was the last wedding you attended?
ben & claire's beautiful wedding on july 21.

i'm very much looking forward to this 3-day weekend (hey thanks, labor day!)
this is what i hope to see & do the next few days, in (mostly) image-form.

oh, and remember this diy post? i've ordered some needed materials & plan on spending some time becoming a crafty lady this weekend. so you should (hopefully!) see a craft-related post sometime in the near future.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

goal #4 on my 30before30 list is to own an original art piece.
i've mentioned before that i think art is a very difficult thing to buy, and i tend to have a wide range of tastes when it comes down to it (as you'll see in this post). i definitely want to hold off until we move in to our "forever home" to buy a large, original piece, because i feel like i have to find the perfect spot for a perfect piece. these things take time!

so, until then, i'll be admiring beautiful pieces of artwork like the ones below.

Monday, August 27, 2012

as i mentioned on friday, t & i headed to dallas for the weekend, so i could do a little bit of work. it really ended up pretty perfect, because i only had to work 5 hours on friday and 5 hours on saturday, which left us with plenty of time to hang out & enjoy the trip.

i'm from dallas and lived there until i was 19, so this was by no means a new city to me or to tucker (he went to college a few miles away from there). but we did go to new restaurants & bars neither of us had been to, explored new areas, and had a really great weekend...(thanks, work!)

without further ado, weekends were made for...

delicious, delicious pizzas & beers (at a place where alex and simon from real housewives of ny were also dining by us!),

Friday, August 24, 2012

right now, my purple maxi dress. it's entirely too hot to be wearing anything that resembles pants, so i've been living in this maxi dress all summer long.

sunday, august 19, 2012

_____ really bothered you today:

nothing. honestly, nothing really bothered me today. it's the end of an amazing weekend, and i couldn't be bothered to get upset about anything!

monday, august 20, 2012

whose team are you on?

my own. does that count?
i've recently found out that i will be very (very, very) busy at work starting in mid-september through the end of november, and i've decided to be my very own cheerleader.

tuesday, august 21, 2012

in 140 characters or fewer, summarize your day.
glared at alarm clock, four miles, entertaining day at work, trash tv with husband, important & very insightful phone call with a helpful new friend

wednesday, august 22, 2012

what can't you forget?

lots & lots of things. i tend to remember a lot of things that i should forget about. i would like to be able to say that i'm not a grudge-holder, and i'm someone who constantly looks forward instead of looking to the past, but that's just not honest. i'm working on it though!

(am i alone in this??)

thursday, august 23, 2012

yes or no: everyone should have a backup plan.

if you would've asked me a few years ago, i would've said no. maybe it's an age thing? i think i've matured a little bit in these past few years (hopefully, right?), and realized that having a backup plan doesn't mean that you're setting yourself up for failure, and to need that backup plan. to me, it just means that i've come to terms with the fact that, well, things happen. or don't happen!

i don't have a backup plan for everything, but it sure is reassuring sometimes.

friday, august 24, 2012

write your recipe for creativity:
i think that in order for me to be creative, i need to have:passion for whatever creative outlet i choose,
i need to havefun doing it,
and i need to have
the determination to get it done. then the desire to be creative just sort of flows naturally.
passion + fun + determination = creativity

i'm heading to dallas this weekend for work. that might sound boring since there's work involved, but i'm dragging the husband along, so it means that we'll be staying downtown, eating at new restaurants, maybe visiting the dallas aquarium and hangin' out by a fancy pool - so no complaints on my end.
i hope you have some fun weekend plans!

i have done zero this summer. so, i'm forcing myself to pick at least one of these diy projects that i've come across, and i'll have to have it done within the next 2 weeks.

terrariums: i love them. i absolutely love them. i have a thing for cacti and succulents...other than orchids, i'm not a huge flower-type of girl. if the husband came home with some cool succulents that i could plant, or an adorable little cacti garden, he'd score way more points (hint, hint).

so i think these diy terrariums are perfect! also a bonus: my cat tends to eat anything green, which makes it hard to have flowers or plants around. but these are nicely sheltered from his furry paws.

wallpaper + bookshelves: we have 2 tall bookshelves upstairs that are very dark and not very much our style, i'm slowly realizing. so i'd love to add a light, simple wallpaper along the back that would brighten them up and make them more modern.

stencils + pillows: i really like rooms with mismatching pillows, and i'd love for one of these stenciled pillows to be thrown in the mix. the husband & i have several songs that mean a lot to us that would work perfectly for this project.

color block terracotta pot: this is a very simple diy that i should've done months ago. my mom came to visit & brought me a little aloe plant in a terracotta pot, and it could use a little bit of a makeover. since we plan to spend lots (and lots!) of time in our backyard this fall and winter, i figure it wouldn't hurt to gussy things up out there.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

several months ago, i mentioned that i hadn't gone on a (legitimate) road trip in over 10 years. and since that's goal #26 on my 30before30 list, i've put a lot of thought in to my ideal trip while on my runs...(i've found that if i focus on one thing while running, i won't realize how tired i am until later!).

so i've put together a visual of my dream road trip. i'm not exactly sure when this trip will happen, since we've got busy weekends and trips planned already, but i know we'll get there eventually.

here is our path:

austin, tx - marfa, tx - big bend national park - austin, tx

after the 7.5 hr drive from austin to marfa, we'll settle in at the simplistic thunderbird hotel...